Our staff planned to spend the summer learning QT, but we soon discovered that it is very similar to other GUI frameworks we’ve already used. Much less to learn than expected. It’s time to jump right in.
To make the first steps easier, we cheated. Last week a subcontractor coded up the basic windows, using screen shots from the Cocoa version that we abandoned last year. He is a QT expert, so it only took a few days. The app runs on both Mac and Windows, and it looks pretty decent.
It’s nice to work with a framework that is based on modern C++. Apple’s Cocoa and Objective-C were just too quirky and weird. Microsoft’s MFC was far too old, and their new WinUI is still just vapor.
Right now we are checking the code, and deciding how to link in our existing accounting and estimating. The biggest challenge is figuring when & where to work on Goldenseal Pro. We definitely can’t subcontract the whole thing. Tried that once and it went nowhere. We know our own business software better than anyone, so it makes sense for our own programmers to do the work.
Problem is, Cornell and Ithaca College both decided to open in-person this Fall. Students are already starting to move in. Many are walking around without masks. Their parents are even worse. Some have come from states with many active infections. It makes life challenging for those of us over 60.
Even worse, the TurtleSoft office is in the densest part of town, sharing a four-story wooden stairway with nine other offices. Everyone shut down in March, but most are reopening gradually. People walk the halls and use the shared bathrooms without masks. The building dates from about 1890, so there is zero ventilation inside. I’m still trying to figure how to cope.
Personally, I maintain work/life balance by not having computers or Internet at home. That may need to change.
Meanwhile, I’m in a re-roofing groove. Just moved the scaffolding to finish the last bit on the east side of my house. The west side is more complicated because it has pipe flashings, rusted-out gutters, plus plans to add a couple skylights. The construction project will finish some time in September.
This early phase of software development requires plenty of head-scratching, design thought and planning. It probably won’t suffer much if it gets limited attention over the next month or so. As days get shorter and the weather grows worse, it will be easier to slither into a coding frenzy. Somewhere or another.
It’s still far too early to even guess at how long this software project will take. It’s the third attempt. Maybe we are getting better at it.
Dennis Kolva
Programming Director
TurtleSoft.com
